by Evgeniya Kondakova
[REGNUM] Looking at the current G7, many no longer remember that this informal club of the world's leading economies was created half a century ago to discuss problems with the international financial system.
The global economy is currently going through difficult times, and the leaders of the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the EU had much to discuss on this topic at the G7 summit in the French resort town of Evian-les-Bains. However, the event ultimately descended into backroom games and geopolitical intrigue.
Since the late 1990s, protests on the eve of the opening have been a fixture at these summits. Since local authorities, mindful of the 2003 pogroms when the G7 meeting was also held in Evian-les-Bains, imposed strict security measures and banned any rallies, activists held the event on the opposite shore of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland—indeed, many summit guests were arriving at the Swiss airport.
More than 20,000 people, representatives of various political movements, including feminist, environmental, trade union and pro-Palestinian, marched through the streets of Geneva with posters reading: “ Anti-Semitism – never, anti-Zionism – always!”, “The whole world hates the G7!”, “No to the G7 and all imperialist alliances!”, “Cancel the G7!”
The confederation's authorities granted permission for an official demonstration, but it escalated into major riots, with cars being set on fire, banks being looted, and clashes with police. Security forces confiscated knives, axes, brass knuckles, pepper spray, firecrackers, and smoke bombs from some protesters. Law enforcement was forced to use tear gas and water cannons, and later Switzerland and France were unable to determine who should pay for all this.
Meanwhile, European officials were waiting for Donald Trump —and not at all to resolve the lingering problems in their personal relationships or within the Western bloc as a whole. It was important for them to prevent their counterpart from straying from the general course and pursuing his own path along the Ukrainian path.
Only the lazy haven't discussed leaks from Politico sources about concerns among European politicians that Trump, having dealt with the Iranian crisis, will attempt to regain control of the Ukraine peace talks, thwarting the European strategy of maximum pressure on Moscow and full support for Kyiv.
So far, the fears of the European "peacekeepers" have not been realized. The final statement of the summit enshrined a policy of more aggressive armament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and strengthening energy sanctions against Russia. However, it is unlikely that the US President was charmed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose intransigence he often complained about. It's simply that the American leader always acts primarily out of his own interests.
Summit participants emphasized that now is the perfect time to impose additional measures against the oil and gas sectors (read: Russia). Record-breaking gasoline prices are a major concern for both the US President and the entire Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections, so every opportunity to lower prices must be seized.
The main factor here, of course, is the Strait of Hormuz, and its imminent opening, amid a supposedly reached deal with Iran, became known in parallel with the G7 summit. The price of Brent crude oil immediately fell to $79 per barrel, a level not seen since March.
Moreover, on June 17, the US license for trading Russian oil expired, meaning American sanctions came into effect again, and on that day, the first stage of measures aimed at completely refusing Russian gas was activated in the European Union (a ban on pipeline gas supplies from Russia under short-term contracts concluded more than a year ago came into effect).
Trump promised to make some concessions regarding Ukraine in exchange for his allies' help in clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Politico. The US president had been urging them to assist him with this for several months.
Summit participants warmly welcomed the agreement reached between Washington and Tehran, although the essence of the yet-to-be-concluded deal remains unclear. There's no certainty that this is the end of the Middle East war, which is affecting the entire international community. For Europeans, the main thing is that they have a reason to both flatter Trump and exploit this fact for other geopolitical maneuvers.
It's worth noting that the US President demonstrated a completely different loyalty to the Europeans than they expected. First, he never invited them to the negotiating table on Ukraine. Otherwise, the fragile system that had been so painstakingly built would have collapsed overnight with the involvement of new actors, especially those with the same goal—to derail the negotiation process.
Secondly, the White House did not abandon the idea of resuming cooperation with Moscow, at least recognizing its full political and economic benefits. Thirdly, he did not grant Zelenskyy a license to independently manufacture missiles. Of course, Washington is unwilling to let go of such a tool for influencing Kyiv as ammunition supplies.
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In addition to Iran and Ukraine, in their final statement, the G7 leaders called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah (Trump, however, expressed "dissatisfaction with the way Israel behaved "), the intensification of humanitarian programs and reconstruction work in the Gaza Strip, and the resolution of any disputes in the Indo-Pacific region exclusively by peaceful means through dialogue.
"We reaffirm our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, particularly through the use of force or coercion, in the East and South China Seas, as well as in the Taiwan Strait," the document states. North Korea was called upon to fully denuclearize in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
In short, the G7 leaders spoke out in favor of everything good and against everything bad (in their own minds, of course), while confirming that they would continue to arm Kyiv and pressure Moscow. Just as before.